Sync Stories: Ever Forget Your Password?

Sync Stories is a column dedicated to our users. Each week, we showcase a different use case for BitTorrent Sync and the personal stories behind it.

In this week’s edition: financial and technology entrepreneur Scott Morgan discusses how he uses Sync to manage all the different passwords and usernames he needs to remember.

Meet Scott Morgan

Scott Morgan is a entrepreneur in the financial and technology fields. He has successfully founded and profitably exited several insurance brokerage agencies, as well as computer software development companies. He learned of bitcoin in 2012 and started the publication the BTC Journal to promote the protocol. He is also a co-founder in a bitcoin business directory and bitcoin wallet Airbitz, Inc.

My Sync Story

I use BitTorrent Sync for several purposes. One such purpose is Internet security, which requires strong passwords unique to each Internet service (i.e. no reusing passwords). I’ve found a great solution with Keepass, an open source, cross platform password manager. It allows you to easily create and store all your usernames and passwords in one database. The database is encrypted with a master password. It has a built-in password generator to allow the creation of super strong passwords (i.e. 100+ alphanumeric and special chars). Additionally, it makes copying and pasting into your browser simple. And when adding new entries, the database is auto updated.

If you sync the database file via BitTorrent Sync, then all your usernames and passwords are updated everywhere. The file is still encrypted with the same master password during the sync process, and it never transmits in the clear. Your master password is never transmitted either. Essentially, you get the ability to create, edit, manage and backup all your super secure passwords on your phone, tablet, laptop and desktop – with the UI/UX nearly identical and auto synced. So, it feels more like a web app, but it’s all local.

I’ve tried dropbox, but its centralized, slower on initial upload, slower compared to multiple instances of BitTorrent Sync and I’ve seen multiple reports of account hacking.

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I have a couple other uses for BitTorrent Sync as well. I have a bitcoin wallet that I currently backup (internal encrypted backup function of the app) to a folder that is then synced to several other computers, tablets and phones running Windows, Linux, and Android. For personal use, I have 80+ GB’s of photoshop files that I sync across an internal network with 3 Windows desktops and 2 Windows laptops. For my company Airbitz, Inc., we use BitTorrent Sync to make backups of all development files to the internal network and to personal computers so that developers can work from anywhere.

For Keepass and password management, I highly recommend the method detailed above to everyone: friends, family, colleagues, strangers. Normally, for top notch internet security, I only recommend open source software available through popular repos but with BitTorrent Sync, I make an exception.

If you’d like to reach Scott, you can find him at @Airbitz. And If you’ve got an epic Sync idea, use-case or how-to, shoot us an email at sync[at]bittorrent.com.